Some general aspects of hydrogen chemisorption on metal surfaces

Chemisorption of hydrogen on metal surfaces requires the dissociation of the H₂ molecule in the first place; this process has been experimentally investigated and theoretically described in terms of multi-dimensional potential energy diagrams. The adsorption of atomic hydrogen is frequently accompanied by displacements of the metal surface atoms leading to phenomena such as layer relaxation or surface reconstruction. Especially surface reconstruction may be regarded as a precursor stage for a progressive chemical attack of the hydrogen atoms also on the bulk metal, leading to the occupation of so-called “subsurface” sites, to bulk diffusion and, finally, to hydride compound formation. All these processes depend sensitively on the crystallographic structure of the surface, and some examples for H on Rh, Co and Pd surfaces will demonstrate the general correlation between the hydrogen surface concentration and the metal's cohesive energy, surface crystallography, and its tendency to reconstruct.